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Chapter 11: Curses and Dreams

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Ginny Weasley woke up on her own, without the help of the Imperius Curse.

I've got to get out of here, Ginny panicked. When she got up, she realized she wasn't chained to the wall. In fact, she wasn't even tied up or restricted in any way.

"Hello," said a cold, high-pitched voice. "Remember me?"

She looked at him and saw his face for the first time since she met his sixteen year old self in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Voldemort, I presume?" Ginny began, feeling most unlike herself. "Geez, no wonder why Harry's scar hurts every time he sees you- you're ugly. In my first year, you were actually kind of cute. What happened? Oh, yeah, it was just your memory... I guess old age is cruel, after all..."

"I took the Imperius Curse off you and removed your chains and this is how you thank me?" Voldemort said angrily. "Crucio!"

Ginny felt extreme pain.

"Stupid, silly little girl. The only reason I keep you alive is because I need you."

"Why, Voldemort, this is so sudden-" Ginny blushed and giggled.

"No," snapped Voldemort angrily, "not that way. Anyway, I will not reveal to you the details. I will say, however, that you will not be able to escape, even if you tried, for if you do, Nagini or one of my loyal subjects will kill you, though I'd much prefer you to be alive, and I'm sure you would, too."

"Who's Nagini?" Ginny teased. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"NO! You shall regret that! Crucio!"

Ginny was in so much pain that she began to laugh uncontrollably.

"What is wrong with kids these days?" Voldemort muttered to himself. He stopped it, seeing as it was getting him no where and she was enjoying herself too much.

"Ha, ha, hoo," Ginny panted. She stuck her hand in her pocket and rummaged around for a cough drop Dumbledore gave her. "Want it? It's BBQ Chicken flavored." Ginny felt strange, offering a cough drop to Harry's nemesis, a man who could potentially kill her if she made the wrong move.

"I don't need a cough drop!" said Voldemort, backing away as if it actually were a virus. "You are just as bad as Potter," Voldemort said. "Imperio!"

Ginny was back under the Imperius Curse.

"Well, now that that is settled, I will deal with Potter now." Voldemort turned around to head out the door. A light cough escaped him as he climbed back up the stairs. He looked back at Ginny and at the cough drop in her hand. He was tempted to take it, but over his dead body would he resort to cough drops. He left and locked the door.

Meanwhile, our heroes spent the entire day worrying about Ginny, particularly our main protagonist, Harry Potter. Was she ok? Who took her? Did she leave on her own free will? Who gave them sleeping draught?

Harry's heart, whenever he thought of Ginny, raced a little quicker. He also couldn't stop thinking about her. He kept remembering how beautiful her green eyes were, how silky her hair looked, and how his heart raced when he looked into her eyes... but he shook it off. He had already too much to deal with without having to think of a girl, too... the death of Sirius which was his fault, the classes with Dumbledore, the flu, the prophecy from the ministry...

But Ginny wasn't any girl. She was quite headstrong and could easily defend herself with her well-performed Bat-Bogey Hexes, which were quite impressive. She once liked Harry, too... why couldn't he like her?

No, Harry thought He went back to worrying.

Suddenly, he felt very tired. He looked at his watch, and he found it to be almost eleven o'clock at night. The only thing everyone had been doing since Mr. Weasley came home was pace the floors and ask questions about Ginny, as if anyone knew; however, Harry couldn't shake the thought that Mr. Weasley might have something to do with her disappearance.

Harry went to bed. He immediately began to dream. He was floating on pink, purple, and light blue clouds. In the distance, he saw Ginny. She smiled and waved at him. Harry, upon returning the greeting, fell into a red pool. He saw Ginny land there, too. He swam over to her and held her hands, when he was just about to say something to her...

Suddenly, the dream changed. He was at a run-down house by a river. A cold voice spoke.

"So, does MacNair have the girl?"

"Yes, my lord," bowed a cloaked man to the right of the cold-voiced man. They were in front of a fireplace which had green flames.

"Ah, here he comes now," the cold-voiced man said softly as a man clutching a small figure, obviously a girl's, appeared in the fireplace.

"I've got her, my lord," said the man who was MacNair. He held up the girl's limp arm. She looked as though she were dead.

"Excellent. Put her in the basement. Her father is...?"

"Alive."

"Good. We'll see what she knows when she wakes. When we find out where Potter is, we'll kill her. Of course," he said carelessly, "that will be Nagini's job. She hasn't eaten anything fresh in a while." The man looked over at a cowering man in the corner. "Wormtail, aren't you supposed to feed Nagini for your master? Crucio!" said the cold-voiced man softly in dangerous tones, pointing his wand at the cowering man named Wormtail in the corner. The cold-voiced man laughed spitefully at him.

The man looked in a nearby mirror. He had pale skin, unnatural red eyes, and slits for a nose...

Harry woke up, his scar in pain. Voldemort had taken Ginny... and they were going to kill her possibly... and something about Mr. Weasley...

"Ron!" said Harry, shaking him as he lay asleep. "Ron, Ron, Ron, Ron, Ron, Ron, RON!"

Ron awoke finally, saying, "No, Herminny, nooo... not Draco..."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ginny was taken by Voldemort, he's planning to kill her."

"Uh- what? Harry, what time... the sun isn't even up yet..."

"Ron? Did you hear what I said? About Voldemort going to kill Ginny?"

"Oh, yeah... don't you remember your dream about Sirius? It turned out to be wrong..."

Harry, at the thought of Sirius, felt a pang of guilt and grief.

"Well, yes, Ron... but are you willing to take that chance? Wherever Ginny is, she's got to be with Voldemort... why else would I have seen into his brain?"

"You know, Harry, when you say 'seen into his brain', that sounds completely insane, right?"

"Yeah, a little."

A slight pause followed.

"Ok, mate, let's wake up Hermione... well, actually, she might try to wake us up," said Ron, noting the time on Harry's watch, which said 5:59 am.

"Right. Let's go."